Sept 21, 2013 is the 41st anniversary of the imposition of martial law. There were 22 Manila-based journalists arrested by military teams that shoved “assos” into our faces. “What’s an ‘asso?’” asked our grandson, a University of California Irvine freshman.

Suppose our 80 provinces were countries. How would we compare with 185 other nations, say in increasing life expectancy? What about improving health? Or keeping kids in school longer, plus tamping down gender bias?

“Who, me?” asked Sen. Jinggoy Estrada. He denied raking in from the multibillion-peso pork barrel scam. At the blue ribbon hearing, whistle-blower Benhur Luy said he visited the senator’s office in 2011 and 2012. “Sexy” had slimmed down, he added.

“To forget one’s ancestors is to be a tree without a root.” This Asian axiom is apt for the 135th birthday of Sergio Osmeña on Sept. 9. As the fourth Philippine president, he led a war-ruined country into a new republic.

Scavengers sifting through garbage dumps of Manila’s Payatas, “Smokey Mountain” of Cebu, and Mandurriao in Iloilo, are half a world away from Brazil. That’s where over three million people gathered for World Youth Day.

Come July 23, the first-ever Latin American pontiff will launch, in Brazil, the 14th World Youth Day. “WYDRio2013” will run until Sunday in Rio de Janeiro. Pope Francis will offer Mass and interact with youngsters from countries ranging from Slovakia to the Philippines to Indonesia against the backdrop of the “Christ the Redeemer” statue towering on Sugarloaf Mountain.